kindly, and humane, "to a degree which well might shame ourselves"; whilst the practice of head-hunting is carried on by every tribe at the expense of its neighbour, the members of each community have strong feelings of sympathy for each other. Among the Sea Dyaks, says Crossland, "if any are sick or unable to work, the rest help; and there seems to me a much stronger bond of union amongst them than I have ever seen among the labouring classes in England." 3 The Santals are gentle and very obliging, and sociable to a fault among their own people. The Hos "are charitable to those deserving aid." 5 The Todas believe that, after death, the souls of good people will have enjoyment in heaven, whilst the souls of bad people will suffer punishment; "a good man is, in the Toda estimation, one who is given to deeds of charity, and a bad man one who is uncharitable (this in order of precedence), quarrelsome, thieving, &c." Mr. Batchelor states that "a more kind, gentle, and sympathetic people than the Ainos of Japan would be very difficult to find"; anything given to them they always divide with their friends. The Samoyedes are ready to share their last morsel with their companions; and it is said that nobody can surpass the poor Ostyak in benevolence and other virtues of the heart.8 "The finest trait in the character of a Bedouin (next to good faith)," Burckhardt observes, "is his kindness, benevolence, and charity. Among themselves, the Bedouins constitute a nation of brothers; often quarrelling, it must be owned, with each other, but ever ready, when at peace, to give mutual assistance.” Generosity is a virtue which always commands particular respect in the desert.10 The Arabs of the Soudan have a saying that " you must always put other people's things on your head, and your own under your arm. Then, if there be danger of the things falling off your head, you must raise your arm, and let fall your own things to save those of others." 11 in the Madras Government Museum's Bulletin, i. 166 sq. 7 Batchelor, Ainu of Japan, p. 19. Holland, 'Ainos,' in Jour. Anthr. Inst. iii. 235. 8 Castrén, op. cit. i. 238; ii. 55. 9 Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, p. 208. 10 Wallin, Reseanteckningar från Orienten, iii. 244. Blunt, Bedouin 11 Richardson, Mission to Central Africa, i. 117. The Barea are a benevolent people, kind even to strangers.1 The Manganja, in the neighbourhood of Lake Nyassa, "are generous in the distribution of food," and even when starving they share the last morsel with their friends.2 Sir H. Johnston says that he has never met with "a more kindly, sensible, considerate set of beings" than the Wa-taveita. The Eastern Central Africans, the Rev. D. Macdonald observes, “are not mere animals composed of greed and selfishness. They often shew great bravery and devotedness. I can point to one man who saved my life on three separate occasions at the risk of his own." Among the Bechuanas a regard for the poor, for widows, and for orphans, is everywhere considered to be a sacred duty. Among all the virtues the Basutos appreciate none more than kindness. They have a saying that "one link only sounds because of another"-which implies that we cannot do without the help of our fellow-creatures,--and another saying that "one does not skin one's game without showing it to one's friends "—that is, when we have been successful in our undertakings, it becomes us to be generous. If any food is brought to them while they are in each other's society, however small may be the quantity, every one must have a taste." The Kafirs are a kindly race; Lichtenstein says that "whenever anyone kills an ox he must invite all his neighbours to partake of it, and they remain his guests till the whole is eaten.”7 Of the Hottentots Kolben states:-" "They are certainly the most friendly, the most liberal, and the most benevolent people to one another that ever appear'd upon earth. . . . They are charmed with opportunities of obliging each other, and one of their greatest pleasures lies in interchanging gifts and good offices." 8 "A Hottentot," says Barrow, "would share his last morsel with his companions.' Drury wrote of the people of Madagascar :-"They certainly treat one another with more humanity than we do. Here is no one miserable, if it is in the power of his neighbours to help him. Here is love, tenderness, and generosity which might 1 Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, p. 534. 2 Rowley, Africa Unveiled, p. 47. 3 Johnston, Kilima-njaro Expedi tion, p. 436. Macdonald, Africana, i. 270, 266. 5 Arbousset and Daumas, Explor atory Tour to the North-East of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, p. 402. VOL. I 6 Casalis, Basutos, pp. 206, 207, 301, 306, 309 sqq. Leslie, Among the Zulus and Amatongas, p. 203. Lichtenstein, Travels in Southern Africa, i. 272. 8 Kolben, Present State of the Cape of Good Hope, i. 334 sq. Cf. ibid. i. 167. 9 Barrow, Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa, i. 151. N N shame us; and . . . . this is . . . . all over the island." 1 Ellis likewise observes that, in Madagascar, assisting in distress, and lending and borrowing property and money, are carried on much more commonly and freely than amongst neighbours or relatives in England, and that a kindness of heart in these things is always esteemed excellent.2 Among many savages the old people, in particular, have a claim to support and assistance, not only from their own children or relatives, but from the younger members of the community generally. Among the Australian natives the old men get the best and largest share of everything, and are allowed to monopolise the youngest and best-looking women, whilst a young man must consider himself fortunate if he can get an old woman for wife. Among the Tonga Islanders "every aged man and woman enjoys the attentions and services of the younger branches of society. In the Kingsmill Islands "generosity, hospitality, and attention to the aged and infirm are virtues highly esteemed and generally practised among all the natives." 5 Among the Kafirs, when persons advanced in years become sick and helpless, "everyone is eager to afford them assistance." In the opinion of the Aleuts, "feeble old men must be respected and attended when they need aid, and the young and strong should give them a share of their booty and help them through all their troubles, endeavouring to obtain in exchange their good advice only.” 7 The sick, also, are often very carefully attended to. 6 Among the coast tribes of British Columbia Mr. Duncan always found one or two nurses to an invalid, if the case was 1 Drury, Adventures during Fifteen Years' Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, p. 172 sq. Ellis, History of Madagascar, i. 139. For other African instances, see Mungo Park, Travels in the Interior of Africa, p. 17 (Mandingoes); Burton, Abeokuta, i. 303 (Yoruba); Idem, Two Trips to Gorilla Land, i. 106 (Mpongwe); Monrad, Guinea-Kysten og dens Indbyggere, p. 7; Johnston, River Congo, p. 423 (races of the Upper Congo); Wilson and Felkin, op. cit. i. 225 (Waganda). 3 Eyre, op. cit. ii. 385 sq. Mathew, in Jour. & Proceed. Roy. Soc. N.S. Wales, xxiii. 407. Lumholtz, Among Cannibals, p. 163. Cf. Grey, Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, ii. 248; Brough Smyth, op. cit. i. 138; Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Australia, p. 51. 4 Mariner, op. cit. ii. 155. 5 Hale, U.S. Exploring Expedition. Vol. VI. Ethnography and Philology, P. 95. 6 Lichtenstein, op. cit. i. 265. 7 Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, loc. cit. p. 155. 13 at all bad; the sympathy of the nurses, too, seemed very great." Beechey says of the wild Indians of Upper California :"The very great care taken of all those who are affected with any disease ought not to be allowed to escape a remark. When any of their relations are indisposed, the greatest attention is paid to their wants." "12 Keating noticed the kind and humane treatment which the Potawatomis extended even to the idiots.3 The Koriaks" carefully attend those who are sick." 4 The same is said of the Ainos of Japan,5 and the Tagbanuas of the Philippine Islands." In Sarawak no relative is abandoned because an injury or illness may have incapacitated him for work. When a Dyak is ill at home, the women nurse the patient in turn.8 In Samoa "the treatment of the sick was invariably humane.” 9 In Tana,10 Humphrey's Island, Erromanga,12 and Tasmania,1 they were likewise kindly attended to; and the same is the case at least among many of the Australian tribes.14 Concerning the aborigines of Herbert River, in Northern Queensland, Lumholtz writes :-"The natives are very kind and sympathetic towards those who are ill, and they carry them from camp to camp. This is the only noble trait I discovered in the Australian natives." 15 In various parts of Australia the blind, and especially the aged blind, are carefully tended; travellers on the northern coast of the continent have noticed that these are generally the fattest of the company, being supplied with the best of everything.16 "No trait in the character of the Malagasy," says Ellis, "is more creditable to their humanity, and more gratifying to our benevolent feelings, than the kind, patient, and affectionate manner in which they attend upon the sick." 17 A similar praise is bestowed upon the 11 Ibid. p. 276. 12 Robertson, Erromanga, p. 399. 13 Ling Roth, Aborigines of Tasmania, p. 47. Bonwick, Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians, p. 10. 6 14 Brough Smyth, op. cit. ii. 284 (West Australian natives). Schuermann, Aboriginal Tribes of Port Lincoln,' in Woods, Native Tribes of South Australia, p. 225. 15 Lumholtz, Among Cannibals, p. 183. 16 Ridley, Kamilarói, p. 169. Eyre, op. cit. ii. 382. Barrington, History of New South Wales, p. 23. Stirling, op. cit. p. 36. 17 Ellis, History of Madagascar, i. 231 sq. 1 Mandingoes and Kafirs. Among the Zulus, says Mr. J. Tyler, "work, however important, is at once suspended that they may help their afflicted friends." 3 Whilst the information which I have been able to gather on the social customs of uncivilised races seems to indicate that, in the majority of cases, mutual kindness and goodwill prevail within their communities, there are not wanting statements of a different character. But these statements are, after all, exceptional, and some of them are either ambiguous or obviously inexact. Only too often travellers represent to us the savage, not as he is in his daily life amidst his own people, but as he behaves towards his enemy, or towards a stranger who enters his country uninvited. As an experienced observer remarks, "the savage, passionate and furious with the feeling of revenge, slaughtering and devouring his enemy and drinking his blood, is no longer the same being as when cultivating his fields in peace; and it would be as unjust to estimate his general character by his actions in these moments of unrestrained passion, as to judge of Europeans by the excesses of an excited soldiery or an infuriated mob." 4 Moreover, many accounts of savages date from a period when they have already been affected by contact with a "higher culture," as we call it, a culture which almost universally has proved to exercise a deteriorating influence on the character of the lower races. Among the North American Indians, for instance, "there was more good-will, hospitality, and charity, practised towards one another" before white people came and resided among them; whereas contact with civilisation has made them "false, suspicious, avaricious, and hard-hearted." As has been truly said, "search modern history, and in the North 5 1 Caillié, op. cit. i. 354. 2 Lichtenstein, op. cit. i. 266. 3 Tyler, Forty Years among the Zulus, p. 195. + Dieffenbach, Travels in New Zealand, ii. 130 sq. 5 Warren, in Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes of the United States, ii. 139. • Domenech, Seven Years' Residence in the Great Deserts of North America, ii. 69. |